Many of today's computers are accessible through graphical user interfaces (GUIs). One popular implementation is Windows 95, by Microsoft Corporation, of Redmond, Wash., which is a windows-based operating system, in which multiple applications may independently execute under the operating system, each within its own separate window.
In a windows-based operating system, interaction with the computer is presented to the user through a desktop theme, under which commonly used applications and/or documents are displayed and accessed using graphical icons on the desktop.
In recent years, there has been a tremendous proliferation of computers connected to a global network known as the Internet. A “client” computer connected to the Internet can download digital information from “server” computers connected to the Internet. Client application software executing on client computers typically accept commands from a user and obtain data and services by sending requests to server applications running on server computers connected to the Internet. A number of protocols are used to exchange commands and data between computers connected to the Internet. The protocols include the File Transfer Protocol (FTP), the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), and the “Gopher” document protocol.
The HTTP protocol is used to access data on the World Wide Web, often referred to as “the Web.” The World Wide Web is an information service on the Internet providing documents and links between documents. The World Wide Web is made up of numerous Web sites around the world that maintain and distribute electronic documents. A Web site may use one or more Web server computers that store and distribute documents in one of a number of formats including the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). An HTML document contains text and metadata or commands providing formatting information. HTML documents also include embedded “links” that reference other data or documents located on any Web server computers. The referenced documents may represent text, graphics, or video in respective formats.
A Web browser is a client application or operating system utility that communicates with server computers via FTP, HTTP, and Gopher protocols. Web browsers receive electronic documents from the network and present them to a user. Internet Explorer, available from Microsoft Corporation, of Redmond, Wash., is an example of a popular Web browser application.
In addition to data and metadata, HTML documents can contain embedded software components containing program code that perform a wide variety of operations. These software components expand the interactive ability of an HTML document's user interface. The components can perform other operations, such as manipulating data and playing audio or video clips. ActiveX is a specification developed by Microsoft Corporation for creating software components that can be embedded into an HTML document. Java is a well-known programming language that can be used to develop components called “applets,” which are transmitted with HTML documents from Web servers to client computers. JavaScript and VBScript are scripting languages that are also used to extend the capabilities of HTML. JavaScript and VBScript scripts are embedded in HTML documents. A browser executes each script as it reaches the position in the script during interpretation of the HTML document.
With today's windows-based operating systems, which are multi-tasking, a user may use a web browser to open multiple windows, each with different content. Since each HTML document may contain scripts of various types, which may in turn open additional windows, a user's desktop display can quickly become visually cluttered due to each window having such elements as borders, control tabs, menu bars, title bars, scroll bars, minimize, maximize, and restore buttons, resizing corners, and other elements which provide functionality to windows.